St. John’s senior treatment program starts this month

St. John’s Hospital’s new day treatment program for senior citizens, to help them overcome issues such as depression and anxiety and deal with grief and loss, will bridge a gap in mental-health services in Springfield, the program’s director says.

“We’re really excited to get started here,” said Mark Staff, director of the Senior Renewal program at 2667 Farragut Drive on Springfield’s west side. “We think we will grow pretty quickly.”

The program will begin later this month and offer what is known as intensive outpatient therapy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, initially serving up to 10 people age 65 and older who struggle with anxiety disorders, mood disorders, mild cognitive impairment and other mental-health problems.

The number of patients could increase to about 20 before the program would need to move to another site to accommodate the demand Staff expects.

Patients will live in their own homes, with van transportation available to the program. Senior Renewal will serve patients living up to about 30 miles away.

“This program is just perfect in a way, because St. John’s offers a continuum of care,” said Staff, 55, who has a master’s degree in social work.

The program will accept patients discharged from an inpatient psychiatric unit, he said, noting that St. John’s is planning a change to a geriatric-only population in its adult inpatient psychiatric unit.

Staff said Senior Renewal will serve patients functioning at a higher level than the clients of the Adult Day Service program St. John’s closed in 2011.

The Adult Day program, which operated out of the St. John’s North building at 801 E. Carpenter St, closed because of declining enrollment. It provided structured activities and socialization for seniors and gave caregivers a break during the day.

Senior Renewal, Staff said, will provide therapy that could help patients remain in their homes as they deal with sometimes long-festering mental-health issues associated with aging — including the loss of mobility and the loss of loved ones.

There’s a growing population of seniors needing help with these issues, he said, pointing to the baby boom generation born between 1946 and 1964, who will be between the ages of 50 and 68 this year.

An estimated one in five Americans 18 and older suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder each year. Depression affects about one in every four people with a chronic illness and is particularly common in patients with heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic lung disease, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, according to the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation.

The rate of suicide among older adults is higher than for any other age group, and the suicide rate for people 85 and older is highest of all — twice the overall national rate, the foundation says.

Page 2 of 2 - Individual and group counseling will be offered through Senior Renewal, with Medicare and secondary insurance expected to pay the majority of costs. A psychiatrist will supervise the care of each patient.

Staff said psychotherapy, in combination with medicine, has been proven “very effective” in reducing depression and anxiety.

“A typical depressive episode, if left untreated, will go six months,” he said. “Treatment gets people feeling better within weeks.”

The St. John’s program is scheduling confidential screenings for potential patients. Staff can be reached at 757-6154 or mark.staff@hshs.org.

Memorial Medical Center offers an outpatient, “partial hospitalization” program for adults, including senior citizens, in Springfield. That program provides more hours of daily treatment than intensive outpatient therapy and doesn’t cater to seniors specifically, according to Janice Gambach, president of Memorial Health System’s Mental Health Centers of Central Illinois.

About 3 percent of the partial hospitalization program’s patients are seniors, Gambach said.

Memorial may refer patients to the St. John’s program, she said.

“Right now, this does fill a critical need in the continuum,” she said.

Mental Health Centers opened an intensive outpatient therapy program for seniors in Taylorville — similar to St. John’s Senior Renewal — in January, and Memorial is considering opening a program in Lincoln, as well, Gambach said.

“We know that depression and anxiety often accompany other parts of aging, such as chronic heart disease and diabetes,” she said.

If left untreated, these mental illnesses can increase a person’s level of disability and decrease his or her quality of life, she said.

“What we’re finding is that aggressive, assertive treatment of some of these issues that in the past wouldn’t be treated are needed and can help people stay in their community and in their homes,” Gambach said.

Programs such as intensive outpatient treatment can lessen the need for inpatient psychiatric care, she said.